Hitting woods off the deck?

[Titleist Man]

How do you hit your woods off the deck. Im having a bit of trouble. Thanks in advance.

[DrivingRangeJunkie]

set up like a driver, and make sure your not standing too close to the ball and then sweep it off the ground nice and easy. Theres no other way to hit it, you have to hit it off the ground, (unless you intend to tee off with it).

[RocketSauce]

i pretty much sweep em. not much of a divot at all (if any)... hit my 3 wood and hybrid GREAT today

[flanagan]

I definitely do not set up to a three wood or five wood like I set up to my driver, and I do not try and swing easy and sweep it off the ground. For me it's more a matter of minding my tempo and not getting quick with my takeaway, making sure I've got good extension/good turn and making solid contact without getting ahead of myself. I don't know if that makes sense, but those are my thoughts before setting up to hit the ball, probably sounds like run of the mill advice. I've always played my fairway woods reasonably well and there's no "sweeping" as such and I tend to err on playing the ball a little more back than a little more forward. If I set up to hit a three wood like my driver I'd be coming way over the top or worse. That's not to say if your swing style is more sweeping that you shouldn't be thinking that thought, heck, maybe that's what I do and I don't even know it. If I try and steer them, I'm dead.

[DBeane]

The thought that helps me the most is "under control". To clarify, under control yet swinging the club "freely". My grandfather would say you dont want to put the "steering wheel" on the shot. When I see people (myself included) miss hit these shots off the fairway they are usually trying to hit the shot too hard. In a lot of cases I think this comes from not having a shot in mind. Example, if they hit a 3 wood 245 yards and they are 285 out. Rather than planning a realistic shot, they attempt to hit the shot too hard and put themselves in more trouble.

If you have a swing flaw it will show up with these shots very quickly. When your swinging at it well, you should be able to hit any club off the deck. Its an old swing tip but try hitting them just like a 5 iron.

I do try and fade the driver off the ground, mine is 7.5 degrees and it just feels better.

Good luck,
-Beane

[HighSchool Golf Freak]

depends,

If I'm hitting a regular shot I keep my tempo smooth,almost slow, and make sure I get the weight shift right, and just let it flow.

If I'm hitting a stinger(Like tiger ) i keep the same thoughts, but think more about hitting into the turf like an iron, trying to pinch the ball

[iWALK18]

I assume you are topping the ball? If so, don't try to sweep. your woods wont dig (large sole) so try to take a little divot. Also, think about swinging with good tempo, don't try to kill it.

Also if you're hitting driver off the deck, i agree with the last post that you should play the ball to fade.

[Stacey_E]

I try to be extra tension free so my tempo is smooth and fluid. I also found that with my fairway wood (17*), it helps to open the face just a very tiny amount. It is so little I can't actually see the face fanned open. I just kinda feel that it is.

One of the best tips I've ever heard was to hit the fairway woods to a certain distance, not as far as you can. Second shots on par 5s used to cause me problems with over swinging. With my distance I can never get home in 2 anyway. Once I quit trying to hit my woods as far as I could, and started hitting them to a certain distance, I had a lot better luck. Now I can hit into long par 4s, or when I get out of position, and feel pretty comfortable over the ball.

[Titleist Man]

  iWALK18 said:

I assume you are topping the ball? If so, don't try to sweep. your woods wont dig (large sole) so try to take a little divot. Also, think about swinging with good tempo, don't try to kill it.

Not topping just hitting it thin and an occasional shot off the heel.

[Crafty]

I wouldn't consciously try to sweep the ball off the ground. Although that is the idea, the thought of sweeping the ball of the ground often causes players to unconsciously attempt to hit up on the ball.

So if push comes to shove, I would rather see someone hit down on a 3 or 5 wood if that is the only way that they can avoid hitting the ball thin.

[pshizz]

Whenever i have a hard time hitting a certain club, all i try and focus on is making solid contact...even if that means swinging only 80mph. I got this tip from Tiger Woods, and have used it with great success since hearing it.

Hope this works!

[Pat007]

I don't hit woods off the fairway. I hit a low ball to begin with, and just don't feel comfortable with it. I'll hit a 17* or 20* hybrid just as far.

[Blades4me]

  Titleist Man said:

How do you hit your woods off the deck. Im having a bit of trouble. Thanks in advance.

Once I got comfortable hitting my 14* rescue club off of the deck I put my 3w back in the bag and haven't looked back.

[Zeph]

I set it up like normal, perhaps slightly back in my stance. Do my swing and try to hit slightly down on the ball or sweep it off. Topping it is the last thing you want to do.

I love hitting my Titleist 906F4 off the fairwawy on a par 5. If you hit the ground first the shot will come out terribly, a good reason to move it just a bit back and hitting it on the way down. Hybrids you are supposed to hit like irons, the 3 wood is just a little longer and different head.

[jambalaya]

I don't advocate sweeping it off the fairway either. I think of a slightly downward blow whereby you clip the top of the grass and not dig into the ground. If you come in too steep you will have problems so you just have to get the right setup through practice where you come downward for a shallow divot. Something I always think about is do not try to help the ball into the air. I know it is a flatter face but the loft will get the ball into the air. Don't try to give it that little extra just before impact. Keep a acclerated smooth tempo.

[shortstop20]

  Crafty said:

I wouldn't consciously try to sweep the ball off the ground. Although that is the idea, the thought of sweeping the ball of the ground often causes players to unconsciously attempt to hit up on the ball.

I agree, I used to struggle horribly with my 3 wood and 5 wood off the turf(I never hit driver off the deck). Always used to top it. After a while I just decided, I was going to hit down on it a little more, low and behold I started hitting the ball much better. Sure if you take a little divot you're hurting your distance but at least you still get decent ball flight and distance. After a while you can tune the swing in and you'll be hitting them so that you're just barely touching the grass on the downswing, giving solid contact. I have hit some of my best fairway wood shots when I can feel the club just barely touch the grass or make a very small mini divot in the turf(more like a little slit in the grass).

Doing what I have stated above and really focusing on keeping my chest "on top of the ball" throughout the swing has really helped with my contact when hitting woods off the deck.